Tuners, Tunings, Metronomes, Chord Finders, and Scale Finders
For free tuners, tunings, free lessons, and a free metronome, you don’t even have to leave this site, just click here!
There are hundreds of sources for tuners, chord and scale finders and diagrams, and alternate tuning guides, but here is one site that has them all nearly all the features you could want (FYI, the homepage links seem to all go to the chord finder, so use the top navigation menu for the tuner and scales pages):
Fretboard Knowledge
Learning the fretboard will open up the guitar like nothing else for you. Here’s a simple game where you have to find and name notes on different parts of the fretboard. I would play this game for about 5 minutes before starting my main guitar practice, and it really helped me improve. Note: Java must be enabled on your browser in order for this applet to work.
Tabs
You can always google guitar tabs for a song, but I find the tab search engine 911Tabs very useful due to their large song database and ratings on tab quality:
Another excellent tab resource is Guitar Pro, a computer program with several features for learning songs and honing your skills. For more information, see the Software section below.
Care and Maintenance
Knowing the basics of guitar care will keep your instrument looking and playing great, and keep its value high. It will also save you from expensive repair work over time. Bruce Roper of Chicago Luthiers Workshop has an excellent article on guitar TLC, as well as general information on guitar set-up and construction.
Injury Prevention
It’s easy to forget that playing an instrument is athletic. Bad posture, arm and hand placements—repeated over and over for hundreds of hours—can lead to injuries that completely halt your playing for weeks or months and require medical attention and prolonged physical therapy. Plus, they hurt. The good news is, they are overwhelmingly preventable. Here’s a great video by a former injurée who touches on several ways of keeping yourself healthy, wealthy, and happy
Gear Guides
I’ve yet to find an all-ecompasing encyclopedia of famous guitarists’ gear. The best way I’ve found is to simply Google your guitarist of choice and “gear” (or if you have something more specific in mind, specify with words like “guitar”, “strings”, “amp”, “effects”, etc.).
A guitarist’s sound is a complex combination of factors, including picks, strings, pre-amps, amps, effects, and studio manipulation, as well as dozens of characteristics of the guitar itself. Many guitarists have shared some or all of their gear lists, or have come out with their own products.